After Marrying at a Castle in the U.K., Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar Continue the Celebrations in India with Pink Saris, Chanting Hindu Priests and Thousands of Flower Petals

THE FIRST PART WAS ALL ENGLISH: a medieval estate, a bunch of Bentleys, a good grey rain. But on March 7, when the wedding celebration of Elizabeth Hurley, 41, and Arun Nayar, 42, moved from Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire—where on March 3 they exchanged vows in an Anglican ceremony before 300 guests—to Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, British reserve gave way to Indian splendor. There were dancing white horses, walkways lined with millions of red chili peppers and a week of endless parties for 200 or so revelers who danced and ate and one night slept outside under tents. At the center of it all was the Hindu wedding ceremony on March 9: In an open courtyard the bride and groom circled a sacred fire as Hindu priests chanted in Sanskrit. "Liz just glowed," says Nayar's friend Arti Surendranath. "She had tears in her eyes." Before it was over, a rain shower fell from a blue sky. "It took us all by surprise," says Surendranath. "But it was lovely—like a blessing from heaven."